Everyone Gets Drunk (Island Life of Mutual Clubbing)
by spoonerdog123
Summary: When things don't go quite as planned for a certain simulation, people begin to see the future (or at least, a bunch of past loops), and their efforts change an awful lot - though not necessarily for the better. And when alcohol's brought into matters, things only go downhill from there. (SDR2 with glitches, drunks, and time loops. Souda/Tanaka/Saionji/Koizumi/Mioda shipped.)
1. Prologue: The Mahiru Parable

**TheMahiruParable . t x t**

**ACCESSING..._**

**SUCCESS. LOADING TRANSCRIPT..._**

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><p>This is a story about a girl named Koizumi.<p>

Loop after loop she spends on a deserted island with fourteen other people, just like her. Look, she's waking up. Now, she's taking a photo. Now, she's making a friend. And _now,_ she's getting hit in the head with a baseball bat. Now, she's waking up again. Now, she's taking a photo. Now, she's making a friend. And perhaps _this_ time, she will be killed some other way; or perhaps she will live all the way to the endgame.

Yes, yes – Koizumi is free to do whatever she pleases, and there is no consequence. Every time she dies, she will return to the island, her mind a blank slate – again, and again, and again, and again and again and the end is always the start, always the start the start start start start forever orever rever ever ever ever bubpysfgldymtilmwgqwpmld–

_(forever and 3v3r}_

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><p>This is a story about Loop 22B.<p>

It is a story like no other – every loop is different – but this one is the one where _everything_ begins to fall to bits. This is the one where the machine sparks and smokes thanks to Loop 22A, the one where at long last, something goes _bang_ and the libraries are corrupted. Everything is twisting, changing – Tanaka pampers his white rats, Saionji knows exactly how to tie her kimono and is and most importantly, when Koizumi goes to take a picture, she doesn't have an analogue camera around her neck anymore. A digital camera's there, its SD card full – she could have _sworn _it was an analogue two seconds ago, and when she looks up at Hinata, he's blinking in some confusion.

"Hey... Wasn't that–?"

"Yeah..."

They spend a moment in somewhat awkward silence, which Koizumi decides to use; she checks the camera's contents. It's claiming it's _full_, after all – logic says that there's something on that card, perhaps something useful. And so it is that she clicks through the pictures on a digital camera she doesn't ever remember owning – still a SLR camera, but a digital one instead of an analogue. And the pictures are familiar, much too familiar – and so she remembers everything, or at least everything in loop 21C, the loop before _that one loop_. She stares at the photos of 21C's party, and remembers how horribly it went; she sees the picture of Togami's corpse under the table, and she remembers how much blood there was, how sick she felt. She never took a photo after that, but she remembers things unbidden from there – she remembers Hanamura's untimely demise in the volcano, his screams for his mother, how the sound rang in her head for days afterwards. She remembers giving into temptation shortly afterwards, she remembers giving into anger – she remembers harsh words and exchanged letters, then the baseball bat coming for her head, then the bolt of white–hot pain and then nothing.

That is when she realizes it: _I must be trapped in a loop._

But – things are different this time. Yes, yes, they are _very _different – looking about herself, Koizumi can see that a great many things have either changed or are changing before her eyes. She excuses herself from Hinata's presence, claims a sudden headache to have interrupted their time together, and then for the rest of the day, she travels the island and she watches. Their reality is inconsistent, to say the least – sometimes, things click back to how they were in that previous loop, and everything is almost normal. But then sometimes, things change completely, and that's generally when Tsumiki's all dolled up in more frills than Koizumi's seen in her life, or when Souda's stepladder vanishes under his feet, leaving him floating in the air as he tries to help Tanaka put up the decorations for the–

_The party!_

She stops, staring open–mouthed – admittedly much like everyone else in the goddamned lodge is staring at the now screeching, sobbing air–walker, but it's not for reasons involving the mechanic. The party – that must be the turning point for all of this! If it goes ahead, Koizumi imagines that it will surely be the same as it was in the last loop – and so, standing in the centre of the old lodge, the photographer realizes that she has a choice. If she lets the party go ahead – things will be the same again. She will have her friendship with Saionji, she will have a peaceful life right up to her unfortunate demise, and she will be happy when she goes; she will once again have redeemed herself.

But... Well, she can _prevent _the party, can't she? This is her choice, isn't it?

And this is a story about her choice, which was not really one at all.

_This is a story about Loop 22B..._

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><p>"Togami, this whole party thing... It isn't a good idea at all."<p>

Koizumi's pulled him outside the lodge, leaving Tanaka and Saionji to deal with the airborne mechanic – though going off the noise, that arrangement's not working too well, they can always step back inside if something goes horribly wrong. Right now, she's got him alone, and she's not about to waste that opportunity.

The heir looks down at her, pushing his glasses back on his nose as he frowns, glancing back towards the lodge at a particularly loud wail from Souda. "And why is that?"

She bites her lip – if she tells him, will he believe her? Will someone so steeped in rationality as he is agree with her story? Will he believe that they're all trapped in a loop, and that this one might be the only chance she has?

And so, she hesitates, and the watchers hold their breath. She didn't tell him exactly why the party needed to be stopped in _that _loop, the one after the one she's remembering, and _that_ loop ended horribly for all concerned. That day, the watchers went through several fire extinguishers , and much yelling and cringing was done; they'd rather the path is different this time, that the perfect endgame is reached. They tense, watching, waiting, fingers poised on the Big Red Button; ready to overhaul while they still can, ready to erase the glitches while they still can – and yet they wait, for they are curious. They must explore every path in the search for the perfect endgame, after all; and perhaps this path will be different from all the rest–

The photographer takes a breath, then begins. "You're not going to believe me. You're not, you're really _not–_"

"And why wouldn't I? It is true that I would not believe a great many things about the current situation, but now I appear to be living it. After everything that has occurred thus far on the island, I doubt that you can surprise me."

Koizumi blinks at that; that wasn't the reaction she was expecting. There seems to be more to Togami than she'd originally thought – perhaps he _will _call off the party this time. "Then... Well, would it surprise you if I told you that we're in a loop right now, and the last time you held the party, you died trying to protect someone?"

Togami cocks an eyebrow at that. "Well... That would not be easy for me to believe, seeing as I happen to be alive. So long as you had definite proof, however – yes, I suppose I would have to believe you."

She nods. "Look at these, then. I took a photo of you dead under the tabl– huh?" And here, Koizumi stops, staring at the camera she just pulled from her bag. It's a film–based SLR once again, not the digital camera she had that morning. Assuming the photos are even on this thing, she'll have to develop them before he'll believe her.

_And by the time I've done that, it'll be far too late–!_

"Is something wrong?" Togami asks, and she shakes her head, bites her lip again.

"No, of course nothing's wrong – it's just that this was a digital camera not so long ago. So, I could have shown you the photos, but now..." She trails off, and the heir sighs.

"And now you have no proof. Therefore, I have no real reason not to hold my party. Is that correct?"

"You're right," Koizumi says. "But – please, _please _don't do it. You're going to die if you do – and Hanamura's going to be executed. You must have gotten a death threat saying that someone would die tonight, since you got it last time, but this isn't how to avoid it–"

"Then how _am_ I supposed to avoid it?!" Togami thunders, and she takes a step back. "Even if you aren't the person who wrote that letter, even if you speak the truth about remembering _this other loop_, what good is any of it supposed to do me? The writer of that letter intends to strike, no matter what."

Koizumi hangs her head, closing her eyes for a long moment. _Maybe I should give up_, she thinks to herself, and it's a thought that quickly becomes rather powerful:_ I'll just... do everything as I'm supposed to do. Let Togami die, let Hanamura die... I guess I'd be next. It's not like I'll lose anything – the loop will just come back next time. I probably won't remember any of this, and if I do..._

If she does remember any of this, she knows she'll be _furious_. This could be Koizumi's one chance to do something about these loops, her one chance to change things – and here she is, thinking about wasting her one opportunity. And so, she opens her eyes, and stomps her foot. "Why should you care about some threat? You're _Byakuya Togami_, for crying out loud! You probably get death threats on a regular basis!"

Togami blinks, and much to her surprise, he begins to stammer, looking away from the photographer. "W–well, of course I do! But, but– I mean, _however_– "

"Oh no you don't! I don't care what you think, or how much your poor little ego's going to be injured by someone other than yourself taking over – I'm not going to let things go the same way again!" And with _that_, she throws the lodge's doors wide, marching back inside with a helpless Togami trailing after her. "Okay! There is officially no more party, so all three of you can just go back to your cabins and–"

She stops mid–sentence, staring at the large and very obvious party in progress. There's food piled high on every table, and though Souda's still floating a good metre off the ground, it's not just Tanaka and Saionji who are making their best efforts to get him down. Tsumiki's there, and Nidai, and – heck, even Owari 's somehow gotten into the lodge without either Koizumi or Togami noticing, and is currently munching on a chicken wing. Mioda waves to them from across the room, and they just stand there and stare, and the watchers sigh. The party has gone ahead thanks to the glitches, and now it is just one minute until the airconditioner plunges the lodge into darkness. Komaeda has made his move already – the knife is under table – and now the watchers will have to restart all over again. The endgame will never be attained at this rate, and the endgame is all that matters, and they go to reset the program again–

–and then with just thirty–two seconds to spare, Koizumi manages to dive under the table with the lamp, grabbing at the knife hidden there. It's a single, desperate act that will change everything from the orange juice in the glasses (vodka) to the whole plot of this loop – and so the watchers stay their hands, and they watch in silence.

What happens next, after all, will define Loop 22B.

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><p><strong>PROLOGUE: END<strong>

_(Begin Stupid Days? (Y/N))_

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><p><strong>AN: **Okay, okay. I've got a lot I need to say about this, so please hear me out. I don't normally make much use of A/Ns, but I think you all deserve an explanation.

To those who have never heard of this fic, and would very much like to know what's going on - this fic was originally an eighteen–chapter monster, started on New Year's Eve of last year. The fic made it all the way to the third case, but I bailed on it just two months ago, for reasons I'm not going to go into here. Basically – I promised never to write another word of this fic. And yet, here we are, with five thousand new words.

For me, it's kind of a big deal.

To those who have heard of or kept up with EGD over the course of the year: I do not delete these eighteen chapters lightly. I _certainly_ do not delete sixty thousand words of story lightly. Unfortunately, what I have done to the fic isn't some series of minor touch–ups – the thing has been completely overhauled. Gone is the rotating perspective of five; the main cast still exists, but now only two of the five have arguable plot armour, even though it kind of goes without saying that no–one is safe in this story. Heck, people even die who didn't die before, and vice versa. Point is – it's changed since you've read it, and it's changed a great deal. Whether you prefer it this way or how it was before is your choice.

In fact – the old version of EGD is canon to this fic, and that the whole thing got deleted is also a canon event to this fic. It's the sub–loop 22A, and you'll hear it mentioned from time to time as a sort of Noodle Incident. Another fic is also heavily intertwined with this one – that being Mind Games. It's not necessary to read that by far stranger story, and the reverse also applies; however, they take place in the same looping 'verse, and the two will reference each other to some degree.

To finish – I'd like to address everyone, the newcomers and those who have stayed with me all along: I hope that the fic will be enjoyed – and not just by yourselves, but by yours truly, too.

...I also hereby promise never again to make such a cheesy speech until next New Year's Eve. _Yikes_.

**If you would like to read the original version of EGD, it can be found as a GDoc on my profile.**


	2. Chapter 1: Give Me One Minute

_Begin Stupid Days? (**Y**/N)_

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><p>Gundam Tanaka, for the record, is not a party person. The appreciation for mortal company is lost on him; his blood is, after all, demon's mixed with angel's. He would much rather spend his time in silence and callousness, and yet – <em>here he is, <em>with a glass of something a vivid orange in one hand and a handful of sundried tomatoes in the other, his Four Dark gods nibbling away at the strip he's placed on his shoulder. He tells himself that he dislikes it, of course – he dislikes the oh–so–painful small talk with Sonia, and especially dislikes Souda's constantly trying to shove his face into the conversation despite being well above their heads most of the time.

Yes, yes – the only reason he is here is _not_ because he, for instance, might be enjoying himself here, but rather because he's determined to get to the bottom of whatever's going on with the floating mechanic. Having tried three different exorcism methods with little success, Tanaka is now waiting patiently for midnight, at which time he can unleash the most powerful of the dark spells in his arsenal.

"May I pet your hamsters?" Sonia asks for the umpteenth time, and above him, the mechanic makes a very disappointed noise indeed.

"Why're you asking him _again?_ They've probably got rabies, y'know", he says, trying to stare down Tanaka over the princess's shoulder, and the self–proclaimed dark lord snarls, brandishing the glass.

"The Four Dark Gods of Destruction do _not _have such ridiculous mortal ailments!" he thunders. "Such madness as rabies cannot harm them, for they _are _the madness itself! The true incarnations of darkness and destruction–"

"–are soooo _cute!_" Mioda giggles, reaching from behind Tanaka to get at the hamsters. "What's this big, fluffy one called?" she asks, patting the very top of Invading Black Dragon Cham–P's head. Tanaka, of course, whirls to face her – but Cham–P, to his credit, does not unleash his fury upon the unfortunate guitarist.

"That fine beast," he says, removing her hand from Cham–P's head, "is mighty Cham–P, the Invading Black Dragon, and the Harbinger of General Doom. His story is of glory and conquest – and he does _not _appreciate being petted by some mortal without permission. "

Mioda blinks, tilting her head in some confusion. "So... Hand–holding's okay, but petting one of Gundam–chan's fluffy balls of general doom _isn't?_ Those are some interesting standards he's got there!"

For some reason perhaps known only to the most powerful of mystics, the whole room goes very quiet at the guitarist's words. Tanaka glances about himself, notes the wide–eyed stares all around himself, and briefly wonders if he has perhaps attained his demon form at long last. The way Souda appears to be doubled over and half–choking is certainly reminiscent of someone horrified – but alas, a quick check behind himself doesn't reveal a tail or wings.

"Hand–holding," he says at last, trying to hide his complete bafflement at the strange, perhaps even otherworldly–influenced silence, "is not only '_not okay'_, it is strictly prohibited! Why, one touch of my bare skin will surely cause you to wither away and–"

"Oh! Is Gundam–chan's trying to kill Ibuki, then?" Mioda chirps, and wriggles her fingers against the hand still holding her wrist. With a sharp breath, he removes his grip, and with his face heating up in some display of mortal embarrassment, he turns on his heel and strides towards the door. Koizumi is standing there in the entranceway, but to Tanaka it does not matter in the least; he merely lowers his head as he approaches.

"I–I must depart presently. I will exorcise the possessed one upon the morrow–"

–and _that's _about when Koizumi decides to bolt straight past him, charging the table at the very back of the room. Tanaka blinks – for someone so determined to be _ordinary_, there's absolutely nothing about her bizarre action that rings as ordinary to him. Why would she of people be running indoors – and not even running towards anyone, but rather at a small and insignificant table? Naturally, her actions causes much chatter and even commentary from the lesser mortals, but of course Tanaka makes the best announcement of all.

"Gwahahahahahaha_ha!_" he laughs, as Koizumi lunges under the table. "Tremble in the presence of true power, for you mortals may never understand the _true nature_ of this act! She is clearly exploring a new dimension! Who knows what strange, dark world might lurk under that particular table? Who knows what foul creature might dwell beneath–"

The photographer crawls halfway out from under the table, then stops with a shudder, looking up at her audience – and indeed at the sight of her, a loud scream from Tsumiki (or possibly Souda) cuts even Tanaka off. The self–proclaimed Dark Lord is honestly more irritable over his being cut off than anything else – what on this earth or under it is there to be screaming about? That Koizumi happens to be holding a large – and indeed, glowing – knife is not of any concern to one who carries deadly hamsters upon his person at all times – yes, he merely takes a step backwards and grabs Mioda to aid his balance on the uneven floorboards.

"It's not what you all think, I promise..." the photographer begins, glancing about herself only to trail off as she sees that the looks she's getting aren't exactly _understanding _or _friendly_ – confused at best and furious at worst.

"Wow, that's a pretty big knife!" Saionji calls from across the room, trotting towards the photographer and trampling all over Tanaka's thought–train in the process. "Planning on stabbing someone, were you?" she snarls, drawing closer, and Koizumi hangs her head, cringes back; everything about her body language screams _innocent_, and yet she found the knife – she found the hidden weapon, and so presumably put there herself.

_But... why...?_

"She was not necessarily planning on using it, Saionji!" Nidai begins, sidestepping in order to put himself between the two girls – but the dancer's not about to be stopped so easily. She skips to the left, darting under the still–floating Souda and pushing him into Nidai's path, buying herself enough time to get closer to the photographer. Though Koizumi must surely know that Saionji is – putting it _nicely_ – a truly awful person, when the other girl begins to speak, her head comes up anyway, and there's something like hope in her eyes.

"Hey, Koizumi. You're gonna use it, right? So, why not try it out on that pig over there?"

"E–eh?! Wh–what have I done to deserve that? Pl–please tell me, so I can apologize right away!" Tsumiki wails, but Tanaka's attention is held by the photographer, now craning her neck to look up at the dancer. She doesn't move any further from under the table – she's shaking all over, her eyes wide and frightened, and Tanaka briefly wonders if he's going to need to perform a second exorcising in addition to Souda's.

"Look," she begins, then she takes a ragged, gasping breath, and even Tanaka shudders at how desperate it is, how laboured it is, how much it seems to hurt her. She tries to stand, but is shaking too badly to do so; her legs crumple under her, and she lands heavily on all fours. "I–I know I'm the person with the knife, but... Well, I'm not the danger. I–I've only got about twenty seconds left, then the lights will go out, so – you've got to believe me! S–seriously, you've _got _to, you did last time, so please–"

"Tw–twenty seconds?" Sonia murmurs, then comes forwards to put a hand on Saionji's shoulder. "She has not done anything yet, merely... She is predicting the actions of a killer, I believe. Perhaps we should listen to what she has to say, and perhaps, if it makes sense, we should hold some faith–"

But Saionji only folds her arms, pulling away from the princess. "Believe _you?_ Why should we? You're _holding a knife_, c'mon! You think anyone here trusts you so long as you've got that thing? So long as you conveniently knew _exactly where it was? _I don't think so, you– you _filthy murderer!_"

Tanaka sees the moment when Koizumi snaps – when sees her shoulders sag, when she seems to lose the will to even stand on all fours, and flops to the ground in a heap, her breathing fast and choppy, every breath seeming to hurt her even more than the last. There's a terrible, terrible silence – then the photographer breaks out into laughter, as ragged and awful as her breath. For several seconds, there's nothing but her giggling in the lodge, a horrifying noise from deep in her hoarse throat.

"S–so it's come to this, huh?" she says at last, and sits up – something cracks in her voice, but she swallows it back and continues, smiling at them all. "I have to choose between having your trust, or keeping you all alive. A–and you're all ungrateful for my doing the right thing, for taking this knife and putting right between the floorboards, so no–one can use it. But... that's to be expected... because – _because_, this is absolutely the right thing to do,_ even if you never thank me for it!_" With these last words, her voice rises to something like a scream. In a single, sudden motion, she swings the knife up over her head, burying it in the crack between the floorboards – and the lights go out.

And in Gundam Tanaka's less–than–humble opinion, that moment is where the party is officially _over. _It's not when the scream comes, loud enough to make Tanaka's Four Dark Gods of Destruction scurry for safety in his scarf. It's not in the moments afterwards, when everyone begins to panic, and Togami calls repeatedly for calm to no avail; it's not after a good minute of panic, when Souda's scrambling to try and find the office, when Tanaka himself is finally delivering a much–needed speech about the imminent attack from the creatures of the night, and Mioda's trying to use as many excuses as she possibly can to make contact with him for some reason unknown. It's certainly not around the two–minute mark, when over the general chaos comes a great wail of anguish from somewhere in Koizumi's general direction – and not in the many chaotic minutes after that – when the lights come back on, when Monomi comes rushing in yelling something about how she hopes everyone has stayed safe, how she hopes, that no–one has been injured, how she hopes, how she–

She stops then; and one by one, they all do, aside from whoever's screaming. Even Mioda stops trying to get close to Tanaka, and instead steps up to his side, staring at just as they all are. The animal trainer is one of the last to pay attention, caught as he is in that most epic speech – but even he has to eventually stop talking, and turn, and he too stares. It is a special moment shared between them all, he thinks, aside from whoever's screaming.

For Mahiru Koizumi, you see, lies just as she did before, with half of her under and half of her out from the table – but the knife that lies just before her is coated up to the hilt in blood. She looks about as shocked as all the rest, staring at the item in nothing less than pure horror – before she slowly, shakily, gets to her feet, and holds her bloody hands high above her head, palms facing outward. It's a gesture of surrender that Tanaka figured he'd only see in the media, and even then, very rarely – and yet, there she is. It's a moment almost poetic, and would surely have been poetic if not for, you know, the disembodied screeching.

"Please..." she begins, though her voice is barely audible over the terrific screaming of whoever's doing that, and so the group shuffles closer. "I... I can't ask for any of you to trust me. Not now. Perhaps not _ever_. I'm sorry, but that's not really enough. But – please, just let me show you how to access the crawlspace. Hanamura's really going to need treatment, and–"

"Ah, Ibuki's got it!" Mioda crows, darting out from Tanaka's side to tap on one of the floorboards. "Hey, Nekomaru–chaaaaan! Pull this one up, okay? And maybe this one, and... ooh, _definitely_ this one–!"

And as Nidai gets to work, as he opens a hole big enough for Owari to wriggle down and fish out a sobbing, shrieking Hanamura wrapped in a once–white cloth – well, Tanaka can't help but watch Koizumi instead. It's true, she doesn't do much in comparison to the complete mess going on with Hanamura – though it's difficult to beat the combination of Mioda and Hanamura's near–constant shrieking, Tsumiki trying to stop Nidai from tearing off any more of his clothes to use as bandages, Peko just coming through the door now and asking Komaeda what exactly is going on. In fact –Koizumi does _nothing _in comparison to the whole Hanamura mess, just stands silently with her hands high above her head, until Togami finally manages to fish the handcuffs out of the duralumin case.

And, with that said – Tanaka still watches her, because there is still something about her actions that he can't quite grasp, something almost intriguing. If Koizumi had really intended to kill someone, she would surely have waited a few more seconds for the darkness to come, _then _struck. And even if Hanamura had a legitimate reason for being under the floor, which was in itself fairly doubtful – if Koizumi had somehow known he was under the floor, then why did she even _say _what she was about to do, giving him time to at least partially escape her blow? No – the only way any of it made sense was if Koizumi had never intended to kill, despite knowing the plans of the true killer – knowledge which Tanaka is more than happy to attribute to the supernatural.

And so it was that as she leaves without a single glance back, Tanaka raises one hand in something like a salute.

_ Be grateful that I will be your lawyer in hell itself, mortal._

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><p><em>Continue Stupid Days? (<strong>Y<strong>/N)_


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